Rachel Allen

Soprano

Hailing from the west coast of Canada, soprano Rachel Allen has been praised for bringing “great tenderness” and “seductive power” to her singing and as a “spellbinding” performer. Particularly lauded for her interpretation of baroque repertoire, Rachel has appeared as a concert soloist in Canada and the UK, performing works including Bach’s St John Passion, Handel’s Solomon, and Couperin’s Leçons des ténèbres among others. Recent operatic roles include Venus in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis for the 2023 Ryedale Festival conducted by Eamonn Dougan, Poppea (2023), Valetto, Fortuna, and Pallade (2022, Grimeborn) in Ensemble OrQuesta’s OFFIE nominated production of L’incoranazione di Poppea, and Morgana (Alcina, Grimeborn Festival). This spring, Rachel was a semi-finalist in the 6th International Haydn competition in Rohrau, Austria. 

Rachel recently completed her Master’s degree at the Royal College of Music where she studied with Alison Wells. There, she was a finalist in the 2023 Brooks van der Pump English Song competition and appeared as a soloist in Bach’s Easter Oratorio and Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s L’isle de Délos. A keen ensemble singer, Rachel performs regularly with the Monteverdi Choir, and has sung with the Gabrieli Consort, London Choral Sinfonia, Theatre of Early Music, and in the chorus of Opera Atelier. 

This spring, Rachel was a semi-finalist in the 6th International Haydn competition in Rohrau, Austria and made role debuts as Barberina in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with Ensemble OrQuesta and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the Overstrand Festival of Early Music.